KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — A Ukrainian national commission banned two xenophobic books that it said incite interethnic hatred.
The National Expert Commission of Ukraine on Public Morals last week banned the books “The Secret History of Ukraine” by Aleksandr Shyrokorad and “Life, History and Reality” by Vladimir Putyatin for degrading the Ukrainian and Jewish nations.
The chairman of the commission said “The Secret History of Ukraine” contains a chapter in which the author denies that the Holodomor, or Great Famine, of 1932-33 took place, and is an outrage upon the memory of Holodomor victims and damages national dignity.
“Life, History and Reality,” according to experts’ findings and the decision of the commission, contains expressions and statements of undisguised anti-Semitism and thus incites xenophobia and interethnic hatred.
The commission examined the books at the request of the Ukrainian Secret Service.
Ukrainian Jewish leaders welcomed the decision of the commission of experts, but also believe that Ukraine must do more to counteract xenophobia and anti-Semitism in the country of 46.5 million.
Eduard Dolinsky, executive director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, in a statement noted the open selling of anti-Semitic books in the center of Kiev.
